Using weather to shape architecture

When Hirsuta, a small architecture firm run by UCLA Professor Jason Payne, took the task of renovating an old Utah schoolhouse, they noticed that the south side had been nearly weathered away from exposure to the elements while the north side remained untouched. Payne thought they could use this to their advantage:

“We’re looking at the way the weather is curling the paneling and we thought we should do that, but more and with more intent and control. The thought is if it took 100 years to get to there, we know it will happen and so we could substitute a building material that could get it to that state in 20 years.”